Carding machine



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2' SHEETS-SHEET l.

FILED JULY-26. 1921.

M Y m w Dec. 19, 1922.

WI WHIPPLE ET AL.

. cARnlNG MACHINE.

2 SHEETS-SHED 2.

FILED JULY 26,1921.

. ,mi l

Patented Dec. i9, i922.

entre@ stares man? -eArretrati erica.

WALTER wnrrPLE Ann cfUs'TAi W. EKBAEL, or Nessun, NEW HAMPSHIRE,

v SSIGNORS T0 NASHUA MANUFACTURING COMPANY, n' PSHIRE, A CORPORATION 0F NIEHJV HAMPSHIRE.

or NASHUA, -NEW Gammes MACHINE.

Application led July 26, 1921. Serial N0. 487,581.

To aZZ whom t may concer/n.'

Be it' known that we, `WALTERl WHIPPLE and GSTAF W. EKDAHL, citizens of the United States, residing at Nashua, in' the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful .Improvements in Carding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of certain textile fabrics, particularly blankets and other heavily napped goods, it' has been found that superior results can be produced by using a core yarn for the warp or weft, or both. This yarn consists of a thread,which forms the core, and ar covering of fibrous material, usually a sliver, slubbing or roving twisted rather loosely about the thread.

It has been the usual practice heretofore to-make this core yarn by first making a sliver, roving, or the like, and subsequently associating the sliver with a reinforcing thread and twisting them together. This process, however, is open to the objection that the sliver is very likely to y break while being fed to the twisting devices and thus leave a length of bare thread, which, when woven into the goods, will producea thin place in the fabric. It is open to the further objection that the thread frequently-becomes kinked during the process of twisting, and this kin'ked portion shows up very plainly in the woven fabric, particularly ifl the reinforcing thread is of a different color from the sliver. lt has also been proposed heretofore to associate the sliver and reinforcing thread in the carding machine in which the sliver is formed and this process has important advantages over the process just described.

v40 It has not, however, gone into use to any substantial extent, so far as we have been ableto learn, notwithstanding the fact that this process was proposed many years ago. The reason for this appears to be due largely, if not entirely, to the unsatisfactory nature oflthe machinery heretofore proposed for carrying out'thisprocess. That is, the machinery has been such that there was great liability of the reinforcing threads breaking, and the number of threads that lmust be handled b a given machine is so great that such brea age necessarily results in a very serious reduction in the output of the ma-A chine. Furthermore, the matter of threading in a broken end is very troublesome in machines of this character.

rfhe present invention has for its general object to improve machines of this character with a view to overcoming the diiiiculties eX-' perienced with these prior machines and producing core yarn of a more uniform quality than that produced by the machinery heretofore available. The invention also aims to devise a mechanism for associating the core and sliver which shall be thoroughly reliable in operation, convenient to use, economical to manufacture, in which wear and depreciation shall be reduced to a minimum, and which shall generally meet the practical re1irements`of machines of this character. he preferred embodiment of the inventioninvolves a carding machine equipped with mechanism which associates the core thread with the roving before these parts venter the rub belts of the carding machine.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, andthe novel features will be particularly pointed out in the ap' pended claims.` l

Referring now to the drawings,

Figure l is a perspective `vlew showing certaln parts of acarding machlne, modified, however, to include mechanism 4embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the core thread and roving are associated andsubsequently handled inthe machine shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of portions of the takeoffl rolls of the carding machine, showing the manner in which the core threads are guided between these rolls.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the main carding roll is designated at 2, the 'doffer at 3, and the upper and lowertakeofi' rolls at 4 and 5, respectively. The sheet 6 of carded material travels from the carding roll 2 between the takeoff rolls 4 and 5 where it is split into strips by the upper and lower tapes 7 and 8, respectively. In Fig. 2, the path of travel of the upper set of tapes is indicated by the dotted arrows, and that of the lower tapes is indicated by the full line arrows. It will be seen lfrom this figure that the strips of carded stock carried by the tapes 8 are transferred to an upper set of rub belts 9, while those carried by the tapes 7 p are delivered between a lower set of rub belts 10. These rub belts are given both a rotary and reciprocating movement, as is well understoodjby those skilled in this art, and they work these strips of carded material into a sliver. The strands of sliver emerging from the upper rub belts 9 are divided, respectively, certain of `these strands 11 passing over a spool drum 14 and being wound on' a jack spool 15 that rests on this-drum, while the alternatestrands 12 pass over a drum 16 and are wound on a jack spool 17. rEhe lower strands of sliver 18 and 19 are handled in the same way, being guided, re spectively, over drums 20 and 21 and wound on spools 22 and 23. The drums 14, 16,20

and 21 are driven at the same peripheral` speed as the takeoH-rolls 4 and 5 which drive the tapes 7 and 8, and the strands of sliver are wound in the various jack spools above zmentioned by the contact with their respective drums.

rIhe construction so far described is that of a carding machine well known in the textile industry.

The thread which is to form the reinforcement or core of the composite yarn is shown at 25 wound on a beam 26. This thread body will drop, and for this reason the beam is' guided by Short shafts projecting axially at opposite ends thereof and working in vertical slots formed in stationary brackets. This construction at one end of the beam is shown in Fig. 1, the shaft being shown at 30 extending through a vertical slot 31 formed in a bracket 32 which is secured to the frame of the carding machine, and this construction is duplicated at the opposite side of the machine. 'lhe drum 27 has a belt connection 34, Fig. 2, with the driving shaft 35 of the drum 14, and this connection is of such a ratio that it drives the drum 27 at the same peripheral speed as the drum 14 and. th takeo rolls 4 and 5.

The individual strands T of reinforcing thread are led between guides 36 on a stationary bar 37 down to and between similar guides 38 on a traverse bar 39. rThis bar is mounted horizontally immediately in front ofthe upper takeoff roll 4 and is sup- 25 rests on the'surface of a drum 27 havlng shafts projecting fromits opposite- Messa? ported in brackets 40 and 41, respectively. For the purpose of giving this bar its traverse movement, a block 42 is secured thereto and is connected by a link 4S with a pin or bolt 44 which projects from a slide' 45 that is secured by two screws 46 to the front face of a bevel gear 47. This gear is mounted on a stub shaft secured in the machine frame and it meshes with another bevel gear 48 secured to the back of a pinion 49 which is driven by a pinion 50 secured fast to the rear face of a grooved pulley 51. A belt 52 connects this pulley with vanother pulley 53 secured fast to the shaft 28 that supports one end ofthe roll 27. rlihe traverse motion of the bar 39 is very short, being simply suiiicient to guide the strands 'l of reinforcing thread backward and forward laterally across the faces of the respective tapes and thus to avoid any localization of the wear of the threads on the tapes. rl`he length of this traverse movement can be Varied at will by adjusting the plate 45 on the face of the gear 47 to change the eccentricity of the bolt 44, this adjustment being permitted by the fact that the screws 46 project through slots'in they plate 45. j

T he threads T travel throughV the rub belts with the strips of carded stock, this stock being rolled loosely about the threads by the action ofthe belts, and the composite strands thus formed are wound on the jack spools 15', 17, 22 and 23. Subsequently these spools are transferred to other machines where the strands are unwound and twisted to form the core yarn that is used in weaving fabrics.

t will be evident that this construction relieves the reinforcing threads, which are relatively fine, from anyV substantial strain, the threads being unwound from the beam 25 by the roll 27 at the same rate at which they are advanced by the tapes 7 and 8 and the rub belts 9 and 10, and are wound up on the jack spools. By associating the core thread with the sliver in the manner here described, the liability of breaking one strand or the other of this material is substantially eliminated and we have-been able, therefore, to produce in this manner a core yarn of far more uniform quality than by vthe machinery heretofore available.

lt will also be observed that all the parts of the thread handling mechanism are readilyaccessible and that the mechanism is so organized that access to individual threads is made" as easy as can be considering the nature of the carding instrumentalities. In other words, access to the threads is impeded as little as possible by the elements of the thread handling mechanism. The traverse. of the threadsl over the tapes distributes the wear uniformly o'ver the surfaces of these parts so that the surfaces of the tapes are always maintained in proper condiavoided by this distribution of wear.

tion, the presence of ridges or grooves being The beam 26 may be easily removed when it becomes necessary to replenish the supply of thread, and the supporting of the thread supply in this manner has the very important advantage that the beam will hold suiiicient thread to run the machine for an entire d ay so that it is' necessary to thread up only once a day.

Having thus described our invention, what.

we desire to claim as new is:

l.. In a carding machine, the combination with carding instrumentalities including devices for splitting the carded sheet of material into strips and rub belts for working said strips of carded material into strands said bar, said bar being positioned and arranged to move said strands of thread backward and forward at the points where they come in contact `,with their respectlve strips of carded material, and mechanism for driving said beam at a speed vto unwlnd saidy strands of thread therefrom at substantially.

the same rate at which said strands are fed through said belts.

2. In a- Cardin-g machine, the combination with carding instrumentalities including upper and lower'take-off rolls, and a series of tapes supported on said rolls for' splitting the carded sheet of material into strips, of a beam positioned above said instrumentalities and holding a supply of thread, a supporting roll on the perlphery of which the thread body on said beam rests, a traverse bar in front of the upper of said takeoi' rolls having devices for guiding individual strands of thread led from said supply into contact with the respective strips of carded material carried by said tapes, and mechanism for reciprocating said traverse bar to guide said strands of thread backward and forward laterally over thesurfaces of the respective tapes.

3; In a carding machine, the combination with carding instrumentalities including upper and lower take-oli" rolls, and a series of tapes'supported on said rolls for splitting the carded sheet of material into strips, of av beam positioned above said instrumentalities and holding a supply of thread, a supporting roll on the periphery of which the thread body on said beam rests, a traverse bar in front of the upper of said takeofi' rolls having devices for guiding individual strands of thread led from 'said supply into contact with the respective strips of carded material carried by said tapes, mechanism for reciprocating said traverse bar to guide said strands of thread backward and forward laterally over the surfaces of the respective tapes, and means for drlving said supporting roll at substantially the same peripheral speed as said tapes travel.

4, In a carding machine, the combination Y with carding instrumentalities including upper and lower take-off rolls, and a series of tapes supported on said rolls for splitting the carded sheet of material into strips, of a beam positioned above said instrumentalitiesA and holding a supply of thread, a sup-portlng roll on the periphery of' which the thread body on said beam rests, a traverse bar in front of the upper of saidtakeoi" rolls having devices for guiding individual strands of thread led from said supply into contact with the respective strips of carded material ycarried by said tapes, means for driving said supportingroll at substantially the same peripheral speed as said tapes travel,v and connections between said bar and one of said rolls for longitudinally reciprocating said bar to guide said strands of thread backward and forward laterally 'over the surfaces of the respective tapes.

v .5. In a carding machine, the combination with carding lnstrumentalities including upper and lower take-off rolls, and a series 'of tapes supported on said rolls for splitting the carded sheet of material into strips, of a vbeam positioned 'above saidinstrumentalities and holding a supp-ly of thread, a supporting roll on the periphery of which the thread body on said beam rests, a traverse bar in front of the upper of said take-olf rollsfhaving devices for guiding individual strands of thread led from said supp-ly into contact with the respective strips of carded material carried by said tapes, means for driving said supporting roll, and connections between said supporting roll and said traverse bar for reciprocating said traverse bar longitudinally to guidevsaid strands of thread backward and forward laterally over the surfaces of said tapes. p

6. In a carding machine, the combination with c'arding instrumentalities including upper and lower take-oil rolls, and a series off rolls having devices for guiding individual strands of thread led from said supply into contact with therespective strips of carded material carried by said tapes, means for driving said supporting'roll at ica substantially the same peripheral speed as foi' driving said cz'ank9 and an adjustable said tapes travel, connections between said connection between said ciank and gearing bar and one of said rolls for longitudinally for varying at will the length of stroke of 10 reciprocating said bai' to guide said strands said traverse bar.

5 0f thread backward and forward laterally over the surfaces of tlieu respective tapes, WALTER WHPPLE.

said connections including a crank, gearing GUSTAF W, EKDAHL. 

